Officers found almost 500 of the most serious category A images when they raided an address in Ockbrook, where Tony Wilson was living at the time.

Derby Crown Court heard how when they first interviewed Wilson he refused to give them the pass codes to his devices so they could not find what was on them.

But he later told detectives what they were and in total they found 1,657 disgusting abuse images.

Tony Stanford, prosecuting, said: “A total of 490 of them were category A, 506 category B and 661 category C as well as 15 extreme pornographic images showing bestiality.

“In his first interview he told officers how he had viewed some of them when he was drunk and at first refused to hand over the pass code.

“He then let them have the code and admitted to officers he had been viewing them for a couple of years.

“He initially could not provide a reason as to why he had downloaded them other than to admit he did receive some sexual gratification from them and that it became an addiction.”

Mr Stanford said Wilson, a father-of-one now living in Crompton Street, told officers that despite viewing them for gratification he would “never extend his interest into touching a child”.

He said since his arrest, in August last year, his relationship with his partner and the mother of his daughter had broken down.

Judge Peter Cooke told Emma Covelly, for Wilson, that he had read the pre-sentence report prepared for her client by the probation service and did not need to hear any mitigation on his behalf.

Handing him a 10-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, he said: “A large proportion of the population will rightly express that someone who look at the filth that you have should go to prison and they are sentiments I agree with.

“But I also know what a good number of the public don’t and that is that programmes whereby offenders receive treatment and are taught of the consequences of their actions have a very high success rate in ensuring that they don’t reoffend.

“You have been at this for some time and the search terms you used made it perfectly plain what you were looking for and looking at.”

As well as the suspended jail sentence, Judge Cook ordered Wilson to undertake the 90-day sex offender management programme, to carry out 150 hours’ unpaid work and he placed him on the sex offender’s register for 10 years.